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An online journal about visual art, the urban landscape and design. Mary Louise Schumacher, the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic, leads the discussion and a community of writers contribute to the dialogue.

Donovan owes TRUE Skool an apology

Political theater is one thing. It’s what Milwaukeeans have come to expect from Ald. Robert G. Donovan. But to look a group of young people in the eye and call their art and their efforts at bettering the community and themselves “crap” is something else altogether. »Read Full Blog Post

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Seems "FlavorDav" is himself no stranger to a bit of "grandstanding." I read that thread on AV Club, Mr. Dav; seems to me you were the one who was rude to Ald. Donovan's legislative aide, who responds to constituent messages as part of her job. And, will you apologize to her for the vulgar name you called her? Was that necessary? You've gotten the answers to your questions....you just don't want to listen to them.

Graffiti is art when it is done like this. Random letters/numbers is tagging. As in tagging your territory. When the artist has permission from the buildings owners why should anyone care? It's an expression. Art is supposed to be though provoking, and dare I say it - controversial? I don't support graffiti artists who do this without permission, but I've seen beautiful and vibrant murals done by many spray artists. So it might not be oils on canvas or black and white photography, but who is anyone to not call it art? Do you throw a fit when someone places those designed cows, horses, statues in front of businesses as an "art installment"? This is the same idea. It was temporary. By the time everyone's blood pressure returns to normal it was gone.

Random: So your theory is, this organization just went ahead and started painting on some random building, utterly without permission? Don't you think there's some, shall we say, organizational risk involved? If that were true, don't you think the owner would have sued TS's [donkey] off by this point? And don't you think Donovan would be trumpeting that fact to the rafters? Since he hasn't, and that hasn't happened, it seems much more likely to believe that TS did NOT just randomly vandalize property. If they painted the side of your house in the manner you suggest, you wouldn't say anything, would you? You would? Then why would the owner of this property remain silent?

WeRock: You have no evidence...but even if it's true that the individuals who made the graffiti you link to worked with TS, that only proves that TS is doing one of the things it says it does: try to redirect the energies and efforts of urban youth in more productive directions. It absolutely does NOT establish that TS "sponsors" graffiti, approves of it, etc.

The people who painted the wall are very good. I would imagine they got their training by painting their basement walls. Of course none of these people ever painted graffiti all over the city. They are all law abiding citizens who would never do that.

Hear me out - My brother was one of these dangerous artists. A program like this sparked his interest in art, and kept him working at it day and night. When he saw what was possible in mural art, he actually became a snob AGAINST tagging and gang graffiti. It showed no skill, no talent. He began carrying a sketchbook everywhere he went. You know what he carried before that? A .22 pistol and a variety of drugs. And he's not the only one. There's hundreds of kids in this town who's parents expect the schools and the police to raise them. Parents don't take responsibility and teach their children how to be the upright citizens they are meant to be. This is why there's so much REAL crime in our city - so many murders, so much theft and so many drugs. Seriously? We're calling a press conference about some stray marker scribbles in the vicinity? I would much rather have these children focus on harmless creative expression under adult supervision, in a place where they have full permission to express themselves. I'm not saying that all of those kids are deviants, but idle hands are truly the Devil's workshop. A few bad apples WILL arise. I commend the organizers of True School for being some of the few people who actually give a crap about these kids, our communities and their future. It's absentee parents and sensationalistic politicians who deserve to be hung by their Buster Browns.

While I don't necessarily agree with how it was delivered, I agree 100% with the Alderman's position. Graffiti is not art, it is vandalism. Regardless of its intentions this project was very ill-advised. Would you give an alchoholic a bottle of whiskey? A pedophile tokens for Chuck E Cheese? Then why would you think it's a good idea to give taggers spraypaint and a wall on a highly visible building? If these kids were referred to this organization for tagging offenses, maybe they should be taught that there are consequenses for their actions. Let them scrub clean some of the houses and garages that have been tagged. Let them plant flowers or cut grass for an elderly resident whose property has been tagged. There are MANY other outlets for these kids that would benefit both them and the community. Let THEM apologize to the home and business owners who can't keep up with all the repairs needed due to repeated vandalism....

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